Henry Spencer, computer programmer, spacecraft engineer and amateur space historian
Forty years ago today, Neil Armstrong made the first footsteps on the moon. Was there some reason it was him in particular?
There were two men aboard the Eagle when it landed: Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin. Who would make the first footprints on the moon?
After the crew selection was announced, NASA delayed saying anything about who was going to be first out. That fuelled press speculation that it would be Armstrong because he was a civilian – at the time, the US military wasn't highly regarded in many eyes. Indeed it was Armstrong, who has since kept a famously low profile, turning down requests for interviews or speeches on the subject – but not because he was a civilian.
As plans for the first lunar landing started to be made, nobody had really thought about who would be out first. Indeed, different people were making different assumptions.
The closest precedent was the Gemini programme, which made 10 crewed flights in 1965 and 1966. The programme had featured several spacewalks that were always done by the junior man (the "pilot"), while the commander stayed inside. So some of the planners assumed that Aldrin would be first out on the moon.
Others noticed that this situation was different. For one thing, both men were going out – the only question was the sequence. Gemini had assigned the spacewalks to the pilots because, with less responsibility for the overall mission, they could specialise more easily. That didn't apply for Apollo, with both men outside.
For another thing, being first man out on the first lunar landing was rather obviously a bit more important than being the spacewalker on a Gemini. The people who would be doing it cared a lot more about the answer.
From colleagues' accounts, Aldrin really wanted to be the first man out. Chris Kraft, head of Mission Control at the time, wrote in his memoir: "Buzz Aldrin desperately wanted that honor and wasn't quiet in letting it be known."
As an Air Force pilot, Aldrin said he was upset by the press speculation that Armstrong had the inside track as a civilian. The US military might be in disrepute in some quarters, but that shouldn't be a consideration in a decision like this.
In the end, boss astronaut Deke Slayton handed down the decision: the first man out would be Armstrong. But it would not be because he was a civilian; there were two other considerations that were much more important.
First, if there were no technical reason for one man or the other to lead the way, Armstrong would have priority simply because he was the senior astronaut. He was from the second group of astronauts, recruited in 1962, while Aldrin was from the third, recruited in 1963. All by itself this was a compelling argument; seniority meant a lot in Slayton's astronaut corps.
And second, in fact there was a technical reason for Armstrong to go first. The real decision had already been made, by some anonymous design engineer. The Lunar Module's moonwalk hatch was below and in front of the astronauts, and was roughly square. It hinged inward, with the hinges not at the top or the bottom, but at one side – the pilot's side. It swung open away from the commander and toward the pilot. So when the hatch was open, Armstrong had a clear path to manoeuvre out through the opening, while Aldrin was penned in behind the hatch.
In the LM's cramped cabin, in clumsy spacesuits, the only practical way out was from Armstrong's side. Once Armstrong was out, Aldrin had to close the hatch again, slide sideways past it, and only then open it – from Armstrong's side of the cabin – for his own exit.
The only way that Aldrin could go out first was for the two men to swap places before opening the hatch. This wasn't quite impossible, but it was very difficult; when Armstrong and Aldrin tried it in an LM mockup, they damaged some of the cabin equipment! The commander simply had to go first.
Aldrin was visibly unhappy with the conclusion, but couldn't argue with the reasoning. Neil Armstrong would be the first man on the moon.
(Image: NASA)
I can understand Aldrin's frustration, but at least, he got to walk on the Moon that day. Micheal Collins was orbiting alone around the Moon while these two guys did this historic walk, and I always wondered what he was thinking about it :)